{"id":515671,"date":"2025-03-03T12:40:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T12:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=515671"},"modified":"2025-03-03T12:40:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T12:40:19","slug":"higher-risk-building-clients-should-be-licensed-not-contractors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/sections\/long-reads\/opinion\/higher-risk-building-clients-should-be-licensed-not-contractors-03-03-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Higher-risk building clients should be licensed, not contractors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Bernard Rimmer, construction commentator<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Angela Rayner announced last week that there will be further investigations into the roles of seven participants in the Grenfell tragedy, possibly leading to debarring them from work in the public sector. But she did not announce a clear plan to deal with the industry\u2019s systemic problems in the design and construction of higher-risk buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf contractors do not have control of design, they will not be able to make much of a contribution to safety in practice\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The government obviously thinks that introducing a contractor licensing scheme and putting all the regulations under one hat will solve the problems, but it is in the split liability of some design and construction procurement systems where the main problems exist.<\/p>\n

The proposed licensing scheme seeks to ensure that contractors are qualified and organised to meet safety standards on higher-risk projects, but if contractors do not have control of design, they will not be able to make much of a contribution to safety in practice. And this measure would take the focus away from the big issue, which is competence of the clients themselves to assemble and organise a team of designers and constructors that will produce high-quality buildings and who will take responsibility for the performance of the final product when they sell or lease the product to members of the public.<\/p>\n

The problem with \u2018shared responsibility\u2019<\/h3>\n

There is also a problem with semantics. Are housebuilders to be regarded as contractors in the licensing scheme? Many housebuilders that develop flats do not generally employ contractors, preferring to manage subcontractors themselves.<\/p>\n

So, the very companies that designed and built tens of thousands of flats with flammable cladding may not be required to apply for a licence.<\/p>\n

I would suggest that the government should change to licensing clients (developers, housing associations, local authorities) who wish to build higher-risk buildings, rather than licensing contractors. This would be a catch-all, with the additional benefit of forcing client organisations to become expert in design and construction procurement.<\/p>\n

The government has accepted the inquiry recommendation to appoint a chief construction advisor, reporting initially to the secretary of state of Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It would be best that it appointed a very experienced construction expert, preferably someone who has been a client of the industry as well as having worked in the design and construction of buildings.<\/p>\n

The government always seems to be reluctant to appoint a construction expert to advise them on how the industry should be organised. Its last big investigation, 1998\u2019s Rethinking Construction<\/em>, was chaired by a car maker. This time, a proper construction expert should be provided with a support team.<\/p>\n

The government is looking to explore shared responsibility, a notion emphasised in the Hackitt Review, when the government appointed a health and safety expert to advise on a what turned out to be a faulty design problem. Shared responsibility means diluted liability, and the government should be holding producers of buildings to account for what they make, and in doing so provide consumers with the protection they so badly need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Bernard Rimmer, construction commentator Angela Rayner announced last week that there will be further investigations into the roles of seven participants in the Grenfell tragedy, possibly leading to debarring them from work in the public sector. But she did not announce a clear plan to deal with the industry\u2019s systemic problems in the design …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":505879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[79552,559,567],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n